


A Charming Thorn

by AliaraShan



Series: SWTOR Prompts [2]
Category: Star Wars Legends: The Old Republic
Genre: Cipher Nine - Freeform, Enemies to Friends, F/M, Jonas Balkar - Freeform, Jonas is so damn fine, Little Dangerous, Nice ass too, Prompt Fic, SWTOR, SWTOR Prompt, Short One Shot, bit fluffy, just for fun
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-09-06
Updated: 2018-09-06
Packaged: 2019-07-07 22:02:03
Rating: Mature
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 3,659
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/15917130
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/AliaraShan/pseuds/AliaraShan
Summary: Based on a prompt from the SFWC thread on the SWTOR forums; "Enemies to Friends". A quick one-shot with thanks to my insomnia, featuring the ever so delicious Jonas Balkar and a run in with Cipher Nine. Not sure whether it fully fits the prompt but it was fun to write in any case and I hope you enjoy. Rating is mostly for use of language, no smut, sorry. <3





	A Charming Thorn

There he was again, that sly Republic prick and the thorn in her side. How was it that he was always just a few seconds behind or ahead of her? Always just beyond the range of her blaster but close enough that she knew the curve of his grin well—the left corner of his mouth always inching closer to the blue of his eyes. Bastard.

He wouldn’t escape her tonight. This time she would bag her prize and bring home a bonus—an SIS Agent. Keeper would be proud and who knew the juicy tidbits Prickface might share if enough pressure was applied. She grinned at the mere thought.

Neika pocketed the dataspike she’d just taken from the security office and silenced her comms. Right now was a bad time to be interrupted, and she sucked in her breath when Prickface turned in her general direction. He couldn’t see her, of course, not obscured behind crates full of smuggled goods, but those might well be his objective.

She crouched down low and through a crevice watched as the pair of tan leather boots drew nearer. This wasn’t working—she needed to get the jump on him, not be the cowering fool discovered without a single way out. He’d be so smug and she’d hate him even more.

Another step closer and Neika shimmied backward on her hands and knees. Each footfall pushing her further away while her mind analyzed a dozen different options to get the jump on him. He’d be too smart to fall for the cheap and easy tricks and if he had even half her smarts—which she regrettably suspected he did—then he’d be anticipating her presence as much as she had his.

His tall shadow fell on the wall behind her. Too close now—fuck. Why had she hidden in the first place? A Cipher of her caliber dragging her knees across a filthy warehouse floor to delay an inevitable encounter, what an embarrassment. Why had she stuck around at all when she knew he was coming and after she’d already collected everything she came for?

Three times a set of comms chimed and Neika panicked, her hand immediately on her pocket until she remembered that she’d turned hers off and heard him cuss.

Hah, who was the smarter spy now?

“Damnit, what part of radio silence got lost in translation?” Prickface hissed to the unfortunate soul.

_“Just thought you might wanna know scans show a Phantom model parked at the other end of the lot—she’s there.”_

“Of course she is. For the past five months it’s seemed I can’t take a piss without her lurking around nearby.”

An exaggeration and Neika screwed her nose up in disgust.

_“You think she’s tailing you?”_

“No. Our objectives appear to align, though, and given what we know…”

_“I doubt she’d be willing to sit down and discuss her findings.”_

“Pff, has any woman ever been able to resist my charm?”

_“Yeah, the one who gave you that shiner last month, remember? Just get what we came for and get out before your stalker gets her hands on those shipment logs. Trant will have a fit if we miss out again.”_

That made Neika smile—she’d done well securing most breadcrumbs for herself thus far—but their conversation left her troubled. Could Prickface really be after the same thing she was? If that was the case then there was a lot more to her mission than either she or Keeper had originally thought.

“Yeah yeah, just sit tight and cut the chatter,” Prickface grumbled.

Neika dashed for the next row of crates along the right side of the warehouse in the split second that it took him to deactivate his comms and remove his earpiece. Distance at last, now she just needed to give him the surprise of a lifetime but new questions muddled her focus.

What if it wasn’t just Imperial weaponry that had gone missing over the past few months but Republic too? That would mean someone was playing both sides and that had all the makings of a conspiracy rather than just a greedy Imperial building up a secret retirement fund.

To what end? What would someone want with those weapons, and why take from both the Empire and the Republic?

Prickface might know, she’d just heard him imply as much. All the more reason to bring him in for questioning and Neika slid low along the wall until she cleared the row of durasteel crates and peered around one of the gleaming edges.

 _Not bad._ She bit down on her lower lip when she caught a glimpse of the way his dark blue pants hugged his ass. Especially while he stood bend over checking one of the labels on the shipment, but then scolded herself.

_Perv later, capture now. Prick._

In one fluid motion, she pulled her blaster from the holster around her hips which activated upon her touch, silently. She prowled forward, each step cautious and with her eyes on the target until the cool metal of the barrel probed the back of his neck, digging into his short, black locks.

“Took you long enough,” he chuckled and each syllable oozed with arrogance.

The way in which he slowly raised his arms and held his hands up seemed to mock her. Prick.

“Toss your weapons and comms onto the crates and step back, slowly,” Neika demanded and added emphasis by shoving her blaster harder against the base of his skull.

“Mmm… that accent,” he sighed and low whistled in appreciation.

His comms clattered down across the durasteel lid and skid forward but he used a gentler touch for his blaster. Boys and their toys. Neika rolled her eyes and reached around to check his pockets with her free hand. A move she quickly came to regret.

“A little lower and to the side, babe, you’ve almost got it,” he teased when her hand patted down his left pocket.

_Prick._

There wasn’t an ounce of tension in his body or a hint of concern in his voice which told her he had expected her. Not just at some point but here tonight—he’d known she was there all along and merely waited for her to come out of hiding.

“Do I? Because it doesn’t seem like you’re packing all that much.” She patted him down a second and grinned.

He wasn’t going to raise her temper or throw her off her game with flirtatious remarks.

“Ouch.” Prickface laughed.

“You knew I was here even before your buddy checked in. How long were you going to wait?”

“All night if I had to. You should have shown yourself sooner, woulda saved you from ruining those fine leatheris pants by crawling across the floor.”

Clearly, he knew how she'd been hiding and what she was wearing and that annoyed her. She’d arrived before he did, she’d hidden the second he stepped inside the warehouse and she’d been watching him—when and how had he seen her?

_More distraction techniques, focus._

Neika gripped his upper arm and spun him around to face her. “Why are you here?”

“Same reason as you, I’m guessin’. Shipment logs, contracts, the contents of these crates? Someone’s cooking up a nasty little scheme.”

That was easy, and nothing she hadn’t expected to hear.

“You’re quick with the answers, I usually have to go a lot further to get to the talking.”

“I figure if I cooperate we might get to the ‘a lot further’ a lot sooner.”

A twinkle crossed those blue eyes she loathed and his mouth did that thing again. That crooked, confident smirk of his dancing on his face. Prick.

“Does that actually ever work, your sleazy lines?” Neika cocked a brow and held her blaster jammed under his chin.

“Most of the time, but I've got a feeling you’re not that quick to buckle at the knees. Special training? You’re not in uniform, most average Intelligence operatives are.”

“As if any woman needs special training to resist your… what did you call it earlier? Charm?”

“You wound me.” That smirk of his remained. “So, do you feel like exchanging notes or should I give my partner over there the honor of grilling you?”

“What?” Neika glanced over her shoulder to double check they were alone.

Fool. In a split second, Prickface grabbed her wrist and twisted her arm to roll her body into his. Her back against his chest and he was quick to snatch her other arm when she tried to elbow him in the ribs. Headbutting would have to do, even though she’d regret it later, and Neika slammed the back of her skull into his face.

His grip loosened but so did hers and her blaster tumbled across the floor out of reach. She spun away from him and dipped down to pull a vibroknife from the shaft of her boot but Prickface was just as fast and wrestled her to the ground. Fighting for dominance and pinning both her arms to keep the knife at a safe distance.

Failing to protect what he treasured most and he recoiled in agony when she kneed him in the groin. Creating an opportunity for her to strike and she slammed him onto his back before straddling his hips with the tip of her blade at his throat.

“Tell me what else you know.”

Prickface closed his eyes and groaned—she’d finally defeated that smirk of his. “If you’ll get off me…”

“What? You don’t like it when the woman’s on top?”

“Love it, under any other circumstances but… damn, you’re sitting right on top of my junk, which you just hurt the fuck out of, and if you don’t move I might…” He squeezed his eyes shut and winced. “Might just throw up on you and pass out, or both. Probably both.”

“Ugh. Fine.”

Neika stood and retrieved her blaster, keeping an eye on him at all times while she perched herself on top of cargo crates and confiscated his belongings.

“So, was that enough foreplay for you? Can we get to the good parts now?”

“Babe, you just traumatized the good parts.”

For the first time, she chuckled. “Oh well. Start talking, Agent…?”

“Shan.”

“Try again.”

“Theron Shan.”

“I know who Technoplague is and what he looks like, you’re not him.”

“Damn that bastard becoming famous and earning himself nicknames,” Prickface muttered and attempted to sit up but laying on his side in a fetal position had more appeal.

“I wouldn’t be too envious—half the department has been assigned to track him down and bring him in by order of the Dark Council.”

“He’ll love hearing about that.”

“I may let you go tell him if you share what I want to know.”

He snorted. “No, you won’t.”

“Who are you?”

“Agent Jonas Balkar, Republic SIS, but you knew that last part.”

“Obviously. How did you know I was here before my ship was spotted?”

“Seems you forgot about the basics of spycraft—security systems. You disabled the cameras but neglected to delete the footage that caught you breaking in. We hacked the feed when we landed.”

“So that call with your partner…”

“Was staged. Thought the snippets of information might tickle your curiosity, lure you out of hiding.”

 _Damn._ She had to give him credit for the play he’d made.

“And our run-ins over the past months? All coincidental or have you been tracking me?”

“Coincidence, luck, who knows?” Jonas finally sat up and leaned back on his palms. “Whatever’s going down on your end, it’s happening on our side too so me and my partner have been following leads hoping to find out what’s at play here.”

“Stolen ammunitions, missing tech, misplaced artillery. The works.”

“You’ve got it in one, babe.”

“So someone’s buying up quite the collection. Personal gain or is there more to it?”

“That’s what I’d like to know and maybe if you’d share those logs you obtained, we can find out who signed for this stuff. Get a name and dig for a motive.”

“Why would I? You’ve told me enough to go on, I can figure the rest of it out by myself.”

“Professional courtesy?”

“Cute, but no. I think it’s time to get you on your feet and back to my ship.”

“I didn’t ask for a vacation.”

Neika hopped down and secured both blasters on her belt before tucking his comms into the pocket of her jacket. “You’re getting one whether you like it or not. Don’t frown, Kaas City is lovely this time of year.”

“And how will you get me out of here? My partner’s waiting aboard our ship right outside the entrance.”

A good point and Neika clacked her tongue while she considered a solution. Her eyes landed on the cargo crates.

“Then I hope you’re not claustrophobic.”

Jonas groaned a second time and shook his head, his raven black locks dancing along the side of his face. He looked miserable and endearing at the same time, and Neika had a hard time hiding her smile.

Okay, so he was exactly as arrogant as she’d suspected and still a bit of a prick but, well, not quite as bad as she’d imagined either.

“You’re being way too difficult,” he tried to level with her. “I hold no value to Intelligence, just another spy doing his job, that’s all, and our goals are aligned here. Why go through the trouble of man-napping me when we could just join forces huh?”

“Because you’re still the enemy and we may be enjoying a temporary truce but I can’t just let you walk.”

“Temporary would be right, and then shit’s gonna hit the fan,” Jonas scoffed.

The twinkle left his eyes and his expression grew sober. No smugness, no pain, and no flirtatious grin this time but a dark cloud looming overhead.

“What are you talking about?” Neika asked.

“Think. Someone is collecting a big arsenal, taking from our stock rather than buying black market or ordering generic. Why? Why ours and why yours?”

“How can you be so sure they’re only procuring ours, and not additionally buying from another party?”

“I can’t, but you can. You’ve got the logs and c’mon… you wouldn’t have gotten this far if you didn’t have some wits about you so use your head. You can feel it in your bones, can’t you? Something is very off about this mess.”

There was no denying he was right. The more she learned, the more suspicious she grew and yes, something did feel very off. It crawled up her spine and raised the hairs on the back of her neck.

Neika knelt down to his height and let her musings run free, her first guess the most likely scenario, “If Republic weapons were to be used against Imperials and vice versa, the truce would end and both sides would be seeking blood. Again. Who’d stand to gain from that happening?”

“I don’t know but if we stick our heads together, we might figure it out before we’re thrown into yet another war that no one’s going to win.”

Another good point and Neika sunk her head into her palms. She could ignore all he’d said and bring him in regardless, then bust her ass to halt this potential scheme in its tracks but was it a risk she was willing to take? Her loyalty was to the Empire but not at the expense of innocent victims and war always targeted regular folks first. Furthermore, she’d just gotten through one war and it hadn’t been a pleasant journey—she wasn’t up for another so soon.

After weighing her options and the risks, she met his eyes and saw no trace of deception, not a hint that he planned to screw her over.

“Fine.”

“Fine?” Jonas sounded almost surprised.

“Yes, for just this once, we’ll work together. Whatever we have uncovered, we’ll share and hopefully, we can end this before it starts.”

“So… no trip to Kaas City?”

“Not today at least. I can’t decrypt the data here, we’ll have to go back to my ship.”

“Uh, yeah, can that wait?”

“Why?”

“Was thinking maybe you could fetch me some ice first? I’m still in quite a bit of pain over here.”

Neika snorted at the mere suggestion. “I’m not your maid, and for all I know you’ll skip out of here the second I turn my back.”

“Right, trust issues, of course.”

“Like you’d react any different if the roles were reversed. I wouldn’t have gotten this far in life if I put my faith in every handsome face I met.”

That easily earned her a smile more dashing than he felt himself to be at this moment. “Handsome huh?”

“Don’t even.”

“I knew it, you’ve been checking me out on the sly.”

“Hardly.” Even while she rolled her eyes, she couldn’t help but chuckle.

Maybe he was only half a prick.

“How about we call your partner, let him in on this new development and maybe he will bring you some ice.”

“You’ve got my comms.”

She pulled the small device from her pocket and handed it over. “Not anymore, and don’t even think about using some sort of spy-code to give him a hidden message.”

“What? And disappoint you so early on in our relationship? I wouldn’t dream of it.”

Jonas made the call as Neika paced before him. Toying with her own thoughts to predict how this situation would play out while absorbing every word of their conversation.

“Just wanted to let you know my charm worked, as it always does. She’s willing to sit down with us and share, partner up for the time being.”

 _“Yeah, right,”_ his partner scoffed.

“It’s true. Lock up and get over here.”

_“You actually convinced her? How?”_

“All she needed was one look at my devilishly handsome looks.”

Jonas winked and Neika looked away. Hiding a smile behind the sandy blonde locks that draped the side of her face. Damn him.

His partner fell silent, no doubt weighing his options all the same and considering the odds of a trap before he agreed, _“Alright, but I’m coming in armed.”_

“Great, we’ll be waiting and hey, can you bring a pack of ice? And maybe a bottle of liquid oblivion?”

_“So you weren’t that charming after all. What did she do?”_

“You’d cringe if I told you, just get your ass down here.” Jonas ended the call and looked up at his would-be-captor and possible new partner. “Happy?”

“Ecstatic. We should have until morning before anyone returns to check on the cargo, that gives us some time to figure this out and plan our next move.”

“Yep. So, do you have a name?”

“I do.”

“And?”

She surprised him a second time. Not by sharing her name—he got what most people got, her callsign Cipher Nine—but she did sit back down by his side and pulled a small pack from her belt. She retrieved a travel-sized tube of kolto cream and handed it over.

The pain in his nether regions had almost caused him to forget she’d smacked her skull right into his face—it hurt—and his cheekbone felt like it was about to burst. Not to mention he half suspected she’d broken his nose though he didn’t bleed.

“Thanks. So, the elusive Cipher Nine huh? Heard about you, lotta gossip. You worked with some of our guys, right?”

“Something like that.” Neika shrugged. Her past involvement with the SIS wasn’t her favorite topic of conversation and Jonas could tell.

In fact, there was a lot more he noticed about her now that she’d lowered her guard just enough to let him glimpse a peek. Not that it made her any less dangerous—the knife and blasters were still within her reach and she’d need less than a second to kill him with either.

“We’re not all bastards.”

“Coulda fooled me,” she threw back but with her smile returning. “Does it hurt?”

It took him a moment to realize what she meant but then he nodded with a grimace. “More than I could ever explain to you. Do they teach you to do that in Intelligence or is that just a habit for women everywhere?”

“A bit of both, I guess. Sorry.”

A kinder expression washed over Neika and softened her features. Brought out the light in those deep, brown eyes that would trap him forever in molten chocolate if he stared at her for too long. A light that sparked a devious glint as her second set of walls came down, or perhaps she’d merely decided to play his game after all. At least for the duration of their partnership.

“But if sorry isn’t enough then maybe, after we untangle this mess, you’ll let me make it up to you?”

“What? You offering to kiss it and make it better?”

Neika laughed. “Wow.”

“Yeah, not my best line, I know. Think you damaged my mojo as well.”

“I’m sure you’ll get over it.”

“Keep flashing me that smile and I will.”

Damaged mojo or not, he was slick and damn him, he brought the first blush to her cheeks. She was trained to soak up comments like his and use them to her advantage, turn the tables and remain unaffected but she was failing now. Failing and perhaps falling.

Prick. Half a prick, and maybe not so bad after all. Kind of handsome and that smug grin she loathed wasn’t quite so terrible either. It was rather nice, truth be told, and for some stupid reason she couldn’t shake her own smile.

Yeah, trouble lay in her future and secretly, she welcomed it. After all, it did come with a finely shaped ass and a pair of blue eyes to die for but more than that, the SIS prick made her laugh and that, above all, was invaluable.

 

**♥**


End file.
